Albion Venturer CX19W - 2023

After World War II, a total of 845 double decker bus chassis were ordered from AEC, Albion and Leyland in the United Kingdom. Albion of Glasgow, Scotland, supplied 143 Albion Venturer CX19W chassis, making the DGT one of the largest customers of the Scottish firm. In Sydney the buses were bodied both by Commonwealth Engineering and Clyde Engineering.

The Albions became synonymous with the Warringah area, being the mainstay of Sydney's longest bus route, the 190, from Wynyard to Palm Beach from 1948 until late 1970.

Those initially allocated to Manly depot were transferred to the new Brookvale depot when it opened in 1952. North Sydney depot and when it opened in 1958 Willoughby depot also had large Albion fleets. Pagewood depot, in south-eastern Sydney, also had a sizeable allocation of Albions from 1963 onwards.

2023 is a example of a Clyde Engineering bodied bus, and entered service in August 1948, from Manly depot and later Brookvale depot. It worked its entire government career in the Warringah and Northern Beaches area.

It was withdrawn in 1968 and sold to Liddell Coaches of Muswellbrook who used it to transport workers during the construction of Liddell Power Station in the Hunter Valley. It was then sold to Cliff Dorahy of Narrabri who used it on school bus services. It was then purchased for preservation by a member, who in turn sold it to another member who carried out more restoration and mechanical work.

It was acquired by the Museum in 1997 and remains in a fully operational condition.